jjvande said:
what is the length eye-to-eye of the F-150 main leaf? loaded, preferably. Thanks
i agree that the longer leaf swap was definitly worth the benefits. I used an MJ leaf.
I am not positive on the length, I can measure an extra spring we have at the shop if needed. The centering pin is normally too far back (about 1.25"), and would require a new front mount unless you do what I did. Since my 8.25 has 3 holes in the perch, I just moved the axle forward, so the pin goes in the rear hole. I actually made shims with an offset hole as well, the pinion pointed way too high without. This turned out to be about perfect for stuffage. I decided to do this instead of building a new mount to allow me to move the axle back in the future to run a longer WB. Eventually I plan on caging it, chopping the rear quarters, swapping axles and running 36 or 37s.
2000xj4x4 said:
did you use the new body style f150 or like say a 2000 f150?
I am not too sure what year, but Id guess 90s. We bought several packs for bastard packs and such, they were all in a pile out of the truck. They were 4 leaf packs with an overload. I ended up using 5 leaves (all f-150) and ditched the overload.
ROBZ95Xj said:
boomerang shackles only help with clearence of your usin full lift packs since they have a longer main leaf, if your usin a stock main leaf then a regular shackle is fine
Semi-true, Boomerangs can help fit many spring packs since they can be flipped to allow the most movement in the "pocket" (stock shackles have little movement, any longer shackle will move more, giving more flex). The problem is they do absolutely NOTHING to correct actual shackle angle. The ONLY way to do that it my moving the mount, or using the correct length main leaf. Boomerangs are designed to fit a longer spring in most applications so the shackle can pivot backward farther in the pocket, not forward. Draw an imaginary line between the mounting bolts to figure the angle. A lot of control arms are bent for clearance, but it doesn't change the angle. If that were the case there would be no need for longarms and such.
With the shackle angle pointing to the front like /, the shackle has to move down and back as the spring compresses. Spring wanting to go up, shackle wanting to move down...so they fight each other.
With it angled to the rear like \, the shackle is free to pivot up and back so it doesn't fight the movement of the spring pack.
Straight up and down isn't ideal, mainly for droop, since the shackle will pull down and forward as the spring droops. The more you can utilize the "natural" range of the shackle, the better it will ride and flex.
Here is a side shot of mine flexed out to show the shackle movement in action. Notice the compressed spring pack is nearly flat with plenty of room for the shackle to move (limited by bumpstop), the drooped side shackle still has room to move forward, I can (and will) relocate the shock higher to allow it to droop further.